Observations on the Fit Life

Tag: politics

I went out for happy hour with some good girlfriends. Sweet Julie always asks, “What are you writing these days?” and so I talked a bit about the essay in progress (“Can I Be Absolved of Gentrification?” that went up on Medium.com later in the evening). What I didn’t discuss: my halting fear about publishing it.… Continue reading Pushing Boundaries By Publishing

This last week, I wandered around the hills and countryside of West Texas at my annual retreat to Davis Mountains Fitness & Training Camp. There’s little to no internet connection out there; my laptop sat unopened, my phone remained primarily silent (except for the bazillion photos I took of sky, flowers, vistas, campers, these horses).… Continue reading Hate in the U.S.A. Isn’t News

Spring is the season for graduation ceremonies, where diplomas are distributed and dignitaries share thoughts on going forth into the real world. But these days, some people are really upset by who is speaking to whom about what. Take, for instance, that cage-rattling provocateur of fake news Milo Yiannopoulos. He’s incensed that Linda Sarsour, a Muslim-American political activist, is addressing City University… Continue reading Free Speech, Hate Speech, Graduation Speech, or Have You Listened to a Muslim Lately?

Books are my friends. I turn to them when I need a good cry, laugh, escape from reality, and fun diversion. They teach me things, reinforce beliefs, and introduce a sense of wonder. Some I’ve reread so often their words have become a familiar soothing mantra. When I need to get away, diving into a truly… Continue reading Reading “The Handmaid’s Tale” in 2017 is Scarier Than Ever

Even though politics seems to be all anyone wants to talk about these days, it’s been hard to know exactly what to say. I’ve got drafts and drafts of half-finished pieces, all of them wrong. I intended to do an inaugural edition of my “How to Stuff a Donald Trump Piñata” (would you believe it’s… Continue reading Walking in Dr. King’s Footsteps at Austin’s Women’s March

I made it through the second presidential debate without benefit of a drinking game. The next morning, I busted out a piece (“What ‘Criminal Minds’ Tells About Donald Trump’s Sniff”), which I later shared on Facebook. Taking a look at the Donald’s nasal commentary seemed a relatively light-hearted analysis, and I felt I’d gotten the… Continue reading The Double Bind Behind Hillary Clinton’s Smile

This morning, I ran a 5K with the candidates vying for presidential office in 2016. See, I’ve added a 3.something-mile loop after my Tuesday morning exercise class. Because the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail is a crushed-granite, groomed pathway, the only variable each week as I circle Lady Bird Lake is my… Continue reading My 5K Run with the 2016 Presidential Hopefuls

Let’s imagine, shall we? I belong to a group, Friends of a Feather, that reveres chickens. My likeminded friends and I find them to be fowls by which enlightened beings can model their lives; we hold these birds in the highest esteem, study them, care for flocks. I need a job (somebody’s got to support… Continue reading Chickens, Love, and a Little Bit of Scripture

I’m on a mission. Surely someone, somewhere has a Donald Trump piñata that I can get my hands on, STAT! I have to thank His Holy Comb-Overness for the sense of fun sparking this creative entrepreneurship. (Truly, we have to focus on the entertainment value of beating up a goodie-filled effigy because considering the actual hatefulness… Continue reading How to Stuff a Donald Trump Piñata